POSTGAME NOTES: Darren Ford’s fearless dash, Rowand and Romo not to be overlooked, Bowker gets a look at the ring, “ABOM” signing event in NYC May 5

There is a reason we have clichés, worn axioms and old adages in baseball.

They tend to be true, borne out over hundreds upon hundreds of box scores.

You’ve heard it said that “Speed doesn’t slump.” Or, if you prefer, “Speed always shows up.” Bruce Bochy used the latter of those constructions tonight after Darren Ford did one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen on a baseball field.

Before we get to Ford’s tiebreaking run in the Giants’ 3-2, 10-inning victory, though, it should be stated that the rest of the Giants certainly did slump.

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They were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. Their biggest Dust Bowl moment came after the first two batters reached in the seventh, and Cody Ross and Miguel Tejada (now hitting .195, and moping like it, too) hit foul pops to the first baseman. They could only stand in the box and look at their shoes. Then came pinch hitter Mike Fontenot, who was 0 for 16 against right-handed pitchers. Despite a good fight, he’s 0 for 17 now.

The Giants looked and acted like a team that had just gotten swept at home. Like a team that was playing the first game of a long East Coast trip. Like a group of players whose minds were still three hours behind their bodies.

But speed doesn’t slump. Apparently, it doesn’t get jet-lagged, either.

Ford’s dash to the plate in the 10th inning was the stuff of legend. If you were watching the game, you understood: It was one of those moments you’ll bring up years later, elbowing a buddy while sitting in the bleachers or watching a game on TV or just talking baseball: “I remember a time when Darren Ford scored from third base … on a ground ball to second base … with the infield in!!”

Poor Neil Walker. I hope Clint Hurdle doesn’t give him a lip-snapping, gum-popping lecture. There wasn’t much more he could’ve done, aside from stare down Ford as he ran the ball over to first base. His throw wasn’t zipped over there, but nobody could have anticipated that Ford would take off the moment Walker looked away.

The instant Walker turned, poof! Ford was gone. Lyle Overbay’s startled throw to the plate was offline. It wouldn’t have mattered. Ford had it beaten anyway.

And that wasn’t all. Earlier in the inning, Ford went from first to third on Joel Hanrahan’s errant pickoff throw. There’s maybe a half-dozen guys in the big leagues who can do that. He’s also one of few center fielders who could’ve run down Matt Diaz’s deep drive in the eighth, and make the play without leaving his feet.

(Andrew McCutchen will be on the web gem highlight films for making a near identical catch on Tejada in the second inning, but only because McCutchen had to dive for it. It looks much less impressive when you simply run it down, as Ford did – even if it’s much more impressive in another sense.)

Ford’s wheels pulled shortstop Ronny Cedeno out of position to cover second base in the eighth inning, too. That turned into a game changer, all right. Freddy Sanchez’s ground ball went from being a double play into a runners-at-the-corners, no-outs situation.

So to recap: Ford entered in the eighth as a pinch runner. He ended up scoring the tying and winning runs.

All from a guy still waiting for his first big league hit.

“I tell you what, that’s one of the most impressive displays of speed I’ve ever seen on a baseball field,” Bochy said. “The two times he got on base, he used another gear. I didn’t think he’d try to go home on that ground ball. He picked us up there, because we’re not clicking offensively. There’s that old adage that about speed: It always shows up.”

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“I thought he had it beat either way. That is how quick he is and how much he anticipated. There’s no fear there. That’s what you love about him.”

Someone asked Bochy: Do you tell your players to look for inattentive moments? Do you teach that?

“Well, you tell them to stay alert,” he said. “You don’t tell them to go home on a ball hit on the infield and thrown to first. You’ve got to have another gear.

“Probably the only other guy would be Pat Burrell, and he was already out of the game.”

Bochy’s eyes scanned the room as he swallowed a smile. I certainly hope the local Pittsburgh media folks knew he was joking.

–
Ford’s comments are in the game story. Here’s one bit I wasn’t able to wedge in there. Ford was asked if he always was fearless on the bases.

“No, I did have the fear when I was younger,” he said. “I didn’t even know how to steal a base. I started to learn when I can go, what are good counts. Now I just feel it’s either going to be me or him. And I’ll work harder. Just trust my instincts and go.”

Ford had fresh scrapes on both his knees after the game. He lost some skin on that winning slide.

“The dirt’s a little hard out there,” he said.

It only seemed like his feet weren’t touching the ground.

–
There were a few times tonight I almost wrote that Ford “single-handedly won the game with his legs.” But that would be doing a disservice to Aaron Rowand, who doubled and scored on Aubrey Huff’s sacrifice fly in the sixth, then got the single in the eighth to set up the inning.

It also would be a disservice to Sergio Romo, who got the game to the 10th inning by retiring all three hitters he faced in the ninth. Romo was coming off a few difficult games, and he’s known to give up a walkoff or two when he leaves something hanging in the zone.

But Bochy said he hasn’t lost confidence in Romo.

“Serge has done such a great job for us,” Bochy said. “He had that hiccup, but this guy throws strikes. What you like about him is he’s resilient. He goes out and gives us a key inning. I love this kid, how he pounds the strike zone. Sure, he’ll give up a longball occasionally, but he won’t beat himself.”

If you haven’t learned by now, if there’s one thing Giants management hates, it’s a pitcher who nibbles and makes his infielders stand around. They like guys who are fearless. Between Romo and Ford, they saw plenty of fearlessness tonight.

–
The notebook lede is on John Bowker, who can always claim to be the opening-day right fielder for a World Series championship team.

Bowker will have to wait until August to receive his World Series ring. That’s when the Pirates travel to San Francisco. He got a glimpse of his prize, though, when he went to the team hotel last night and had sushi with bullpen catcher Taira Uematsu. He met several of the coaches, too, who were eager to show off their rings.

Bowker is the most utilized pinch hitter in the majors, which is not exactly the role he wanted. But he said he likes Pittsburgh and he’ll stay patient until he gets a larger opportunity. He’s also enjoying his texting banters with Steve Holm, his Sacramento buddy who is replacing Joe Mauer in Minnesota.

–
There’s an interesting feature on Freddy Sanchez in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He really did enjoy being a Pirate.

–
For Giants fans in New York, and I know there are a ton of you out there, I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be signing “A Band of Misfits” at Finnerty’s (AKA Giants headquarters in NYC) at 221 2nd Ave. on the evening of Thursday, May 5 after the Giants play the Mets at Citi Field.

As long as there are no weather delays or doubleheaders or other acts of God, I’ll be there from 8-10 p.m. with a supply of books. As always, cover price is $19.95 (cash only) and my signature will set you back an extra nickel. Look forward to seeing you there!

Andrew Baggarly

Andrew Baggarly has witnessed and documented the most eventful era in San Francisco Giants baseball history, having covered the team since 2004 for th​ree major media outlets including the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune​. This will be his 20th season as a baseball writer.
​Baggarly is the author of the bestselling book, A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants. A second title, Giant Splash, is due to be published by Triumph Books in April 2015.
Baggarly’s other notable life accomplishments include running as the Bratwurst in the Milwaukee Sausage Race and becoming a three-time Jeopardy! champion.

As always I appreciate your insight, and the fact that you put in the extra effort maintaining this awesome blog.

Babz

Tejada’s body language has been a downer. I get that he’s struggling right now, but the attitude doesn’t help, and doesn’t give me much confidence that he’ll pull out of his dry spell. Granted, if I had legions of people critiquing my bad days, my shoulders would slump, too (no, scratch that, I’d be weeping piteously). Still, it’s hard to watch, and probably not a thrill for his teammates, either. Hope he turns it around soon since it doesn’t look like the Giants have a whole lot of other options at SS. Oh, and DarRunFord rocks!

Ryan

What can we give up for Reyes…..or perhaps Hardy ?

TGS

Today’s game was absolute proof that nothing runs like a Ford

DONNIEGIANT

For Reyes the Mets would probably want at least Wheeler, Crawford and Belt

cme

For not having a major league hit, Ford has won two games almost single handedly (one game last year). AMAZING.

Besides Torres the Giants are slow. They have very few players that can steal a base. Buster is currently leading them with 3 SB.

Ford’s speed off the bench might be more valuable then schierholtz’s glove. Besides Torres the Giants are slow

The Giants have to make that decision when Torres comes off the dl.

junior_giant

Perfect example of a guy that showed up on ESPN every night for making great diving catches while most other centerfielders made the same play on the run was Jim Edmunds. And btw maybe there was something to the story about management growing tired of Zito. As referenced above they hate guys who nibble and keep the defense standing around. That’s been Zito ever since he put on a Giants uniform.

Noah

Reyes is a rental at best and smells like another huge Giants bust because of injuries. It just seems like a bad idea to trade about the top 1-2 prospects of our depleted farm for anything other than a sure thing.

The SS market is so unbelievably weak right now. I heard the guy filling in for Marty Lurie on KNBR suggest we wait for Uribe to crap out and buy him back. Madness.

uncle joe mccarthy

ford’s heroics notwithstanding…the kid has gotta get that bunt down….and they do teach bunting in fresno, so he has no excuses

regarding fear and base running….do not credit bochy…credit decker….who has all his guys running…even travis

it may be bush to run on some substandard catchers, but he is teaching his guys to be fearless when they run the bases….and it shows in fords work

btw….someone needs to show miggs the fresno box scores

burriss is hitting, running (leads the league by a huge margin) and is playing ss and of positions

keep moping miggs….cuz next stop is dfa city

and im sorry…but if miggs is the oldest 37 year old i have ever seen

and are we getting close to moving huff out of the 3 spot?

Noah

@uncle joe
Huff was never a natural 3, he’s more of a cleanup on a weaker team or a 5/6 guy. Bochy’s in a tough spot with Huff, Posey and Burrell in the heart. But as a lefty, Huff’s where he belongs in this lineup. Maybe.

How ’bout switching Panda and Huff in the order? Wonder if Bochy is thinking that way?
I’ve heard on KNBR that Giants are shopping Nate. For who?
Burriss up – who geos down?

Inquiring mind wants to know.

Noah

“I’ve heard on KNBR that Giants are shopping Nate. For who?”

Prospects and a roster slot for Belt? Honest guess.

Mavo

I was disappointed with Kruk and Kuip tonight when they did not mention Willie Mays after Darren Ford’s amazing display of daring tonight on the bases! Thank God that Dave Fleming (what a talented young broadcaster!) mentioned it to lead off the Post-game Wrap! For 15 years I had the extreme pleasure of watching Willie Mays THE best baseball players in history, do similar things on the basepaths as young Ford tonight!! I immediately told my wife that it reminded me of Willie Mays.. especially that dash home when the groundball was hit to 2nd base with the infield IN, in the 10th! That is EXACTLY what Willie would have done in that situation! I told her that I was sure Jon Miller would make the comparison. Jon and I are the same age, we both loved the Giants, so he also got to see the amazing things Willie Mays did on a baseball field. Shame on Kruk and Kuip for not making the comparison on the air immediately … especially with Willie’s 80th birthday a little more than a week away!

Jah

run darren run! definitely needed to get a win anyway we could.

also thanks for the above reference mavo. us younger folk never had the privilege of watching willie. always heard about his speed and even recall him mentioning that he could have stole 600 bases if he really tried. nice to have a visual frame of reference.

Mavo

@Jah

Yes it was a privilege to watch Willie Mays all those years and that display by Ford tonight was the closest thing I have seen to Willie’s exploits on the bases in 40 years!! And Darren running down that gapper in center was something else Willie would do.. although Willie played a shallow centerfield to cut off singles and DARED guys to hit’em over his head! Not many managed that either!!

I don’t know why Sabean does not value speed and defense higher. With our pitching, if we had two or three speed burners in the lineup we’d be like the ’80s Cardinals! And speed and defense suit our ballpark to a tee! Baggs mentioned it in his entry above and it is so true “speed does not go into a slump!”

uncle joe mccarthy

DONNIEGIANT

since nate was in aa, other team’s scouts have been lusting after him

that the giants are dangling him to see who bites is no surprise

but he is out of options, and teams know that, and will not offer much

i wish ford could learn how to slap hit and drag bunt

once he gets on first, its almost an automatic double, and his base running skills would cause havoc with pitchers

Mavo

uncle joe mccarthy

Agreed.. Darren Ford needs to watch old films of Maury Wills as his role model. Wills drove the Giants and the rest of baseball crazy with his slap hitting and bunting skills … and of course his baserunning! If Ford could learn just to make contact and bunt a bit .. he’d probably hit .280 in his sleep with that speed he has! But, that sac bunt right to the first baseman with a runner on 2nd tonight of Ford’s was terrible and again Kruk and Kuip missed telling the audience that the bunt HAS to be towards 3rd base to make him field it! Maybe it was jet lag or something but I thought Kruk and Kuip had a bad game tonight!

dp

BOWKERMANIA LIVES

Giants Fan in China

Ford = amazing.

Sushi with the bullpen catcher? Is that random?

GiantsFanFromNY

Hey Baggs

While you are in the neighborhood, how about a signing Tuesday in Cooperstown. I’ll be checking out the Giants World Series exhibit…love to get my autographed copy of A Band of Misfits.

CT Giants Fan

Baggs – Heading into NY for the game on Thursday but can’t make the signing that night – we can blame my kids. Any chance I can look you up in the press box (early of course) to get my copy signed?

totalfan62

I went to bed last night with the Giants down 2-1, after that uninspiring 7th inning (EDT time zone). What a great breakfast present to see that they came back to win this game, especially in such thrilling fashion.

Yes, exploits like Ford’s effort last night make all the older Giant fans flash back to great plays by Willie Mays, IMHO the best player who ever played the game. There were dozens of plays from Willie just like last night’s heroics.

I hope the Giants are planning something special to celebrate Willie’s 80th birthday. First game back home after this road trip, first home game vs. Colorado, it would make that a very special evening.

Let’s work the mojo for a 7-3 road trip, which would erase some of the sting from last weekend.

GO GIANTS!!

Rxmeister

While I agree that Ford’s bunt was bad, there’s no excuse for Nate being out by twenty feet at third base. I never saw such a fast runner that can’t steal a base, and also can’t get a decent break off the bag. If he gets going faster there, maybe Overbay decides not to make the difficult throw. It actually turned out to be a blessing though, because no way Nate scores from third on that grounder like Ford did. I think next time the opposition will realize Ford on first is more dangerous than any other Giant in scoring position. No wonder the Giants want to shop Nate and keep Ford here! The problem here however, is that they need a bat off the bench and Nate can hit a little. Is Fontenot going to be your top lefty off the bench? The guy can’t hit at all.

GiantsFan

I see no reason to not call up Burriss. He’s hitting, playing SS, has some speed, and showed he can play at the major league level before hurting his foot. He cannot possibly do any worse than Miggy who is clearly on the backside of a good career.

Scout Finch

Someone above was drawing comps of Ford to Mays.

Sure, he “may runs like Mays, but hits like $hit”.

For sure Giants have got to develop some contact rate from this guy. And was the bunt that bad ? Absolutely not. He did his job, got it down. Schierholtz gets a less than optimal break and a crashing Overbay makes a great play. Tip your cap to the defense.

Scout Finch

Should Tejada continue this 500 ish OPS/.220ish wOBA business than he is toast. Adios Miggy. Although Burriss hasn’t shown he can hit at the bigs, he will assuredly get on base at a higher clip, run the bases faster and get to more balls in the field. He will at least perform at replacement level or even +1 WAR. This won’t be a hard decision. Tejada is approaching 100 PA. Maybe the decision comes at 150 PA.

But maybe the optimist in you points to Hanley Ramirez’ slow start. He’s coming around, right. And you haven’t given up on Huff and bought into the on/off year fable, have you ? Drop him to the 6th slot. The most productive guys in the order have been Sandoval, Burrell and Posey with Sanchez and Rowand right there.

Great win last night. That could have been a ‘panic button’ loss.

GoGiants24

GiantsFan says:
April 27th, 2011 at 5:52 am 31..I see no reason to not call up Burriss. He’s hitting, playing SS, has some speed, and showed he can play at the major league level before hurting his foot. He cannot possibly do any worse than Miggy who is clearly on the backside of a good career.

Agreed, but I’m pretty sure that Burris has been playing 2B.

jeffe

Baggs – on the 4th there will be 200+ Giants fans heading to Citi on a party bus from Finnerty’s. Stop by, we’ll be on the Pepsi Porch!

GoGiants24

I stand corrected…Burris played SS last night.

Grouchy Bear

Remember when I said that they should send down Ford rather than Belt? You don’t? Never mind.

Say Hey

Anyone who doesn’t think Bochy has a sense of humor should look at that Pat Burrell comment. Hilarious.

Mavo, you know your stuff but Willie Mays just doesn’t pop into mind much when looking at Ford. Sure, he’s got the range defensively and great instincts on the basepaths, but there’s the hitting for average, hitting for power, and arm that seem to be missing.

Not something to rag on Kruk and Kuip over or a basis for talking up the annoying young Dave Fleming imo.

No Longer Long Suffering Giants Fan

It was a lousy bunt. 1st off you need to bunt it down the 3rd base line; even more so with a 1st baseman who throws left-handed. Ironically, if Ford does move Schierholtz over the run never scores. Nate wouldn’t have scored on Freddie’s grounder and then Huff K’d. It doesn’t hurt to be little lucky sometimes.

On more than one occasion I saw Mays score from 2nd on an infield hit and from 1st on a single to the OF. I’ve seen him win games by subtly pulling a 3rd basemen into his path and getting an interference call and helping a runner score from 2nd on a wild pitch by convincing the catcher the ball had bounced away in the opposite direction. Ford is a great instinctive base runner. Mays though existed on a whole different plane and hit over .300 with 660 HR’s. Nobody was better.

karasukanzaemon

Baggs,
As a Giants fan in the Atlanta area, there was some commentary over the weekend (especially on Atlanta radio/tv) about all of the 0-2 counts on Braves batters that the G-Men just did not/could not apparently finish off. It seemed to me too, though I have not gone back to look at the actual numbers of these 0-2 counts that ended in walks/dingerz, that Giants’ pitching was regularly getting ahead in the count, but to no avail. Do you think this was just a coincidence? My imagination? Is it a sign of Buster’s relative inexperience/his learning process/sophmore slump? Something else? Thanks,

GiantsFan

Scout Finch–you’re missing the point in comparing Miggy with Ramirez…as I said Miggy is on the downside of a good career…Hanley is 10 years younger, and that has to be a key factor in assessing whether a player will turn it around. Miggy has slowed down a ton since he was 27 yrs. old…Sorry to not be more optimistic. Normally, I try to be, but it just looks like he is on the downside of his career, not just taking a while to warm up like Ramirez.

http://A Ag

Ford would have been out if the throw was accurate IMHO

Keep’n It Real

I have a co-worker that keeps saying “Don’t give up on Miggy”, but as hard as I try…I think it’s time. An occasional double (even off the wall), doesn’t cover up his hitting into double-plays or swinging at pitches that someone with his experience should no to ignore. Then you add his errors and you can’t help thinking that another non-hitter with better defense would at least help us NOT lose games.

As Willie Mays said to Miggy (on Showtime’s “The Franchise”), “We should have got you a long time ago.” I agree…unfortunately we have him now when he can’t hit and is a defensive liability. Miggy was a great player, but it’s time to give someone else a chance.

willieD

I’ve liked burriss, but he didn’t hit here at all in the past. Giants have been fooled before by guys who light up AAA (even Velez tore that league up) that were over matched at mlb level. Got to rely on decker for his evaluation.
Ford was smart enough not to go all the way back to the base as Walker stared at him, just enough distance so walker had to go to 1B. A lot of guys can run well, but don’t know how best to use it. Nice play. While a good throw might have had him, that’s the odds you calculate: it would take a clean pick up, good throw, and a good catch and tag to get you. Pirates couldn’t make it happen.

Mike Souza

Good for Aaron Rowand proving me wrong last night. Some things are greater than baseball & I heard a story about him last night from a friend about how Rowand helped an endangered & troubled kid in need a few years back. If Rowand goes 0 for 1,000 I will be a lifelong fan of his because that kid he helped reminded me so much of myself as a youngster. Any man/woman who steps to prevent child abuse deserves praise & repspect & he has mine. Hopefully if his play frustrates me in the future this new story will allow me to get over it quickly & keep my negative thoughts to myself…but I will not become a pom pom waving homer. I promise you that. GO ROWAND & GO GIANTS!!!!

Since ’62

Ford can scoot for sure, but can he hit, can he play defense? Only time will tell. Let’s just not get too carried away.
I hope Shierholtz is traded as then he will be finally able to show he’s a valuable player.
Go Giants!!

totalfan62

To clarify my comments re Ford vs. Mays: it was ALL about baserunning and nothing else. The kid does have good instincts and those skills gave us a win last night, but in no way was I comparing his overall ability or potential to Willie. Nor was any other poster for that matter, I am sure.

Lance Newberry

I think Willy did his amazing things based more on his brilliant instincts and natural rhythm than on raw speed.

Mays was fast, but far more than that he was a baseball magician; Ford is just overwhelmingly fast.

Very early in his career I saw Eric Davis once score from 1st at Candlestick on a poor pickoff throw not much worse than last nights; THAT was the most amazing display of speed I’ve ever seen on a baseball field, and that type of speed is what Ford has, but unfortunately not much else. Hoping that Darren Ford can develop into a solid leadoff hitter is probably a pipe dream.

And while Ford’s score last night was great, I think it was just as much really bad major league baseball from the Pirates. Ford isn’t a total mystery to the league; his one trick is his burning speed yet the Pirates acted like he was Bengie Molina.

That 2nd baseman should have FROZE Ford instead of just glancing at him and then soooooo casually tossing the ball to the 1st baseman, who also appeared to have no thought that Ford might bolt for home. Freeze the runner, snap the throw and the 1st baseman come off the bag READY to throw and Ford doesn’t try or is out.

Ford made a great play, but he wouldn’t have been able to if those Pirates had been ready and executed properly, which is what winning in the big leagues is all about. It’s easy to see why that team never wins.

That being said, way to go Ford!

As for Tejada, I don’t think for a minute the team is even thinking about replacing or benching him. At this point he only reason they MIGHT is if they’re worried about the leadoff spot long-term for the season.

I can’t believe that they think Rowand will keep hitting the way he has, and with Torres history of injuries and general uncertainty about whether he can play at the level he did last season, acquiring a shortstop who can lead off would be a way to cover two potentially serious issues. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Tejada will most likely start hitting, but if he doesn’t than SS isn’t just a hole on the team, it’s a GAPING CHASM! And if Torres can’t return to form or even the field regularly the team has NO ONE who can lead off; Rowand is doing a great job but he’s not a “leadoff hitter” and even in his best years he was always notoriously streaky. He WILL cool off at some point, sooner probably than later.

Did someone say this season was going to be easy?

LET’S GO GIANTS!!!

totalfan62

On Tejada: no way do Sabean/Bochy make any move for another SS until end of May at the very earliest. If he continues to struggle short-term we will see him consistently batting 8th and sitting for one game a week, but that’s all. He’s our SS for now, he knows he is struggling and that the team is depending on him, so let’s see what happens over the next 2-4 weeks. Hopefully warmer weather equals better Miggy.

Nate’sFanMom

@RXmeister:

The reason Ford was even on base was because Schierholtz came through as the PH. If Nate has few hits in sporadic AB’s, he’s a bum. If Ford has no hits in a few ABs, he hasn’t had a chance to prove himself.

As for Miggy, he doesn’t look good on D, and he’s not hitting. I know it sounds crazy, but rather than give up on a good player with upside like Nate for nothing, why don’t they try him at shortstop? He’s definitely got the arm and his range couldn’t be worse than Miggy’s.

I’m not against trading Nate as long as we get a player with skills.

totalfan62

@ Lance Newberry, re Torres:

I’m confident that we will see the 2010 Andres Torres as soon as he gets back and regains his timing and stroke. This guy has worked so hard to get and stay where he is, including takiing care of his body in every possible way. He is our igniter, and he will move right back into that role quickly after his return. As someone once said…CAN’T WAIT!

Good observations on the Pirates poor fielding and execution. It is a microcosm of what is consistently wrong with this once proud franchise. Talented players come through their organization only to top out at lower than expected levels, get traded or move on as free agents, or get injured and never reach their potential.

BDA

Mike Souza post is a + post. it is a lot more fun rooting for someone than bashing someone, especially if they are on the team you root for. rowand has also done a ton by paying for ballparks in communities so kids have a place to play. the dude isn’t slacking and he has provided many big plays over the last couple of years. you can’t begrudge the ballplayers for the ridiculous amt’s of $ they make, if the fans just quit following baseball then it would all dry up – i like todays alternative better.

BDA

i agree with totalfan about miggy also, he still has some time to get it together but his leash is getting shorter

The Department of Redundancy Department

If Burriss just played a game at SS after spending most of the season at 2B, it could be management is looking to bring him up soon.

Remember that baseball decisions move at a glacial pace, and you can’t just move guys up and down between the majors and AAA, as you start running out of options. You’ve gotta give a veteran like Miggy a chance to turn it around before sending him down. That said, he could stand to sit (that sounded weird!) for a couple of days to clear his head.

BDA

one observation about ford – watching him run the bases at crazy full tilt reminds me a bit of when velez was TRYING to do the same thing a couple years ago. The main dif is everytime velez would go off he’d be pegged by some lazer beam throw or he’d be just an eighth step slow. his craziness always ended with a dejected stroll to the dugout. with ford there seems to be an anti-magnet effect between him and the ball and every throw ends up in the outfield – we need that kind of mojo

BDA

last thing – i watched some of the rockies game a couple of nights ago and their young ss starling? castro had 3 horrific plays (all ended in errors and accounted for 3 runs) in one inning. tejada is struggling, isn’t any time to be dfa’ing him though – he hasn’t been that horrible in my opine.

Ralph Moore

No signing in DC? I’m coming up from NC for the weekend.

ClutchUp

WOW…Andy Baggs’s return + the Giants win really brought out the best in the bloggers, both the Vets on here and some new ones:
Thoughts:
*** Mavo you heard how Fleming had to couch his comparison of Ford and Mays…I agree with you to a point, but the two veteran broadcasters may have just been “holding out” because of the A to Z difference of the 2 men overall. Mays did it 24/7 and also did another version with his speed (as you know) he would slow down-speed-up at times. Heck maybe in a straight line Ford is faster than 24, but I think if you will grant me this, Kruik and Kuip just did not want to go there. Let’s compare him to someone else than 24 because there was nobody better than Mays, period (not Aaron-Not Joe D-Not Mantle-Not Duke-Not Williams/Clemente would have come the closest) Mays once said he stayed at first base on a double cause he knew in this one instance had he been at second, McCovey would have been IBB. Last night on ChronLive Mays said he almost: “Threw for the Cycle”/threw a guy out at home/3rd/first and had a guy out at 2nd but SS dropped ball.
*** Al oha said someone: What leadoff hitter gets pinch run for? Al oha your stuff is excellent but that SITCH called for it.
***Lance: SuperbX10 post: Miggy’s leash is shorter, otherwise Burris would not be at SS over Rholinger; The Giants “get it” but here comes that weird “us fans vs. Giants management/veteran pro baseball mentality. He is going to get his chance to fail badly before there is a BIG switch. TotalFan is 100% spot on with what will happen with Tejada.
***Mike Souza: Break through moment for you. It was NEVER that your Rowand posts were not accurate, but Rowand WAS trying his best, in spite of his body language (wow see Carl Crawford’s lately) – his funky stance or his failings while flailing at the slider in the dirt (remember Matt Williams/Pedro Feliz)
***Babz: Miggys body language=that’s why I love radio.
***Noah: Correct about Reyes = would not work/fans on here would be on him 24/7.
***All the rest on Fords bunt: Agree that the key was not going back to the bag – he had an 18 foot start; You can’t blame two people for Ford’s bad, not poor bunt. Nate was NOT at fault. Left-handed charging first baseman + bad execution. Brain cramp by the Ford because his bat angle was going towards first from the beginning and that’s the wrong technique/execution at ANY level of ball unless: 1bman’s playing way back…and/or you had a strike on you and you just had to get it down. The bunt was also TOO hard.
***Andres Torres: the last time he was down in 2010 he came back rusty BUT he wasn’t trying to YANK everything. That macho workout routine in jeans throwing bricks over his shoulder during the off season may have given him a sense of strength, but baseball strength starts between the ears in knowing what your role is and what each situation during the game calls for. Last swing I saw him take – he swung like Prince Fielder and as many have written here – that’s not his game and even more maddening he should KNOW that.

YogiBarrister

Maybe the Giants should try to move Burrell. His contract, OBP, and power might be attractive. Rowand, Torres, and Ross should start, and the best bench five man for this team would be: Shierholtz, Ford, Burriss(Tejada or Fontenot with Burriss starting?), DeRosa, and Whiteside.

jesse

Baggs, great to hear you’ll be stopping by Finnerty’s. There’s 200 of us transplanted Giants fans/Finnerty’s residents who are going to the May 4th game in 4 chartered buses and sitting together. Feel free to stop by and I’ll buy you a beer.

I Love ABOM

I was on an evening stroll down 2nd Ave when I first laid eyes on her. She was holding court in Finnerty’s tavern, surrounded by a group of lovestruck men, all vying for her attention. Soon I was among them, totally smitten by her grace and intelligence. Could a schlub like me ever possess such beauty? Dare I ask to take her home with me? I screwed up the courage to ask, and we’ve been together ever since. We’re soon to be married, and although her father wouldn’t agree to give her away at our wedding, he did offer his blessing after I paid him twenty bucks.

Ford also used his wheels to track down a ball into the gap that Rowand probably would not have caught. He was the reason the G’s won the game (no thanks to the poor ABs by Ross and Miggy)

Theresa

Thanks to the link on the Freddy article…great piece. I miss you when you aren’t blogging, look forward to your updates every day! Let’s go Giants!!!

SCurryn

Baggs — any word on Ford’s legal situation?

Giant25

For all the talk about Ford’s speed, it needs to be noted that the guy seems to have no baseball acumen whatsoever. A good throw gets him at home, and the Giants wouldn’t have needed the gift of an errant pick-off throw had he been able to get a bunt down (you make the third baseman field that ball, genius! You don’t push two-hoppers at a hard-charging first sacker!). The Giants’ team speed borders on the rating for water buffalo so everyone goes gaga over a guy who can run. Uh, Eugenio Velez anyone?

ClutchUp

In November, 2010, Ford was [4]charged with theft, obstruction of justice and falsifying a police report after telling police he was robbed of $300 at gunpoint while carrying a bank deposit for a Chevrolet dealership where he was working.

In January 2011, officials with the Cumberland County (N.J.) prosecutor’s office accepted his request for pre-trial intervention, allowing dismissal of the charges if he meets a series of court ordered requirements.

ClutchUp

@ Nates’FanMom…

You always find those nuggets (DeRo going to Florida)

Do you think the Giants would make that deal….

Jay

Wonder what the ML record is for most runs and steals without a hit? Anyone?

Mike Souza

@Giants25- Comment#67- Eugenio Velez was fast but was a horrible baserunner & very slow out of the box so that is a horrible comparision. The kid put down a bad bunt & now he is horrible player & we can’t be hapy about his speed or the win? I think not. Nobody is saying Ford is a superstar, but the kid’s speed is an exciting weapon.

snarkk

Baggs, what’s the real deal with DeRosa? It’s getting fairly obvious that the guy is not playing even close to as much as expected. It has to be his wrist, yet we hear nothing out of the Giants. He might as well be on the DL, given the rare appearances…

Mavo

@Clutchup and Say Hey

I never implied that young Ford was ANYTHING like the Say Hey Kid … other than saying in one category …. his BASERUNNING daring last night brought to mind Willie Mays in his hey day! Of course Willie Mays was the All-time BEST!! Your comment on Clemente is pretty accurate … but he certainly lacked 24′s power and baserunning skills. The Say Hey Kid is my baseball idol and always will be!

I think Kruk and Kuip neglected to mention Willie simply because neither one of them played at the same time as Willie Mays and in those days there were few chances to watch games on TV other than your local team and Game of the Week. So I think neither one of them REALLY witnessed or understand what Mays did on the bases! Those of us who lived here and got to as many games as possible.. and listened to the radio for every game … WE are the ones who KNOW exactly just how amazing the Say Hey Kid truly was!!

And I ragged on Kruk and Kuip because they also neglected to mention how horrible a bunt it was!!

Eugenio: Different story. Ford’s IQ/acumen is ++ compared to Velez. Jump to last year vs Padres. Velez on first, pick to first to Adrian Gonzalez, Velez dives back in and during his hand to foot exchange Velez is completely off the bag. Gonzalez – incredulous held the ball/glove on him the whole time.

I think it is obvious that DeRosa’s wrist is NOT 100% even after the 2nd surgery. The Giants are trying to hide it.. not very successfully if you ask me! I expect he’ll be a bit player all year and then retire. Too bad because he really could help this team on the field! And I hope Sabean learned his lesson of signing a guy coming off surgery.. especially wrist surgery.. no matter what the medical people say! I questioned the signing back then as I thought wrist surgery is too dicey to trust.. so another 12 mil down the drain!

Monterey

I’m not that high on Ford. It’s entertaining to see him steal, esp when it’s the winning run…but that’s just one facet of the game . He can’t hit. I wish him luck and hope he learns how to hit a little bit.

Miggy isn’t going anywhere for the time being. The Giants paid 6 mil for his services so they’re gonna give him plenty of time to get it together. If he’s not contributing enough by late May/June they’ll put Fontenot in there more often. They’ll play who ever is hot, but they won’t release Miggy. Too much of an investment. What if they had let go of Renteria???

ClutchUp

@ Mavo, yep I knew what you meant. As I wrote above, +++ speed is intoxicating and the rare-ness of +++ speed is fun to watch thus I know Sey Hey himself is smiling when watching young Darren.
But I still think that Kruk and Kuip “did not want to touch” the comparison. They’ve seen enough tape to know….

Also Fleming was all over the terrible execution of Ford’s bunt, and yet someone here or there blamed Nate for his “poor jump”.

Charlie Finley’s hiring of Allan Lewis and Herb Washington were side shows because having speed and using it in baseball are two different items.

All those I mentioned above had +speed and truthfully I think Ford is between ++speed and above.

I DO know that the players in the Negro leagues would have made my list three times as long.

Lastly I head Cal Ripken say that in Bo Jacksons first spring training that he crushed a one hopper to Cal in a double play situation and that Jackson beat the return throw to first by 3 steps with the watch reporting 3.65

snarkk

Well, now never mind about DeRosa. Just saw report that he’s going from the shadow to official DL and seeing his wrist surgeon in Cleveland. No surprise there, none. Typical Giants — anybody paying attention knows something is wrong, but no hint at anything, then BANG — onto the DL. Sabes gets props for last year’s champeenship. But, he’s still addicted to signing used up, damaged vets. $12M down the DeRosa dumper for essentially NOTHING so far, and looks like he’s probably done…

Mavo

I knew it when DeRosa was not making any starts lately! And it is obvious the rest of the league also knew it. What a shame.. both for Mark … a class guy all the way … and the Giants for dumping another $12 million down the tubes!! Why Sabean took a chance on a guy coming out of wrist surgery without at least an incentive laden contract … is ….well .. hard to fathom!!

al oha

Burriss called up and DeRosa to the DL.

Can DeRosa’s contract money be covered by insurance? Or do clubs just eat it when a player who gets injured can’t perform. Did the Giants have to eat Robb Nen’s salary for two years or did insurance cover any of that?

If so, it would be prudent if Barry Zito has a puzzling injury that keeps him on the DL for about 4 more years.

al oha

Burriss had 15 steals to Ford’s 7, but in twice as many games.

Mgr. Steve Decker has the Fresno Grizzlies running like crazy.

It would be a pleasant surprise if Emmanuel has figured out a better approach at the plate and can come within range of his AAA stats of a .344 avg. and a .423 obp.

al oha

Whoever said previously that Aaron Rowand was good for about a two week hot streak and then reverts back to his same ol’ same ol’, couldn’t be more correct.

It’s an injustice that he makes $12 million a year and the Giants are, for the most part, stuck with him. Meanwhile, hometown boy Nate, who makes peanuts and has more than one tool useful to the Team, is being shopped.

Sabean made some good moves last year, some of which fell in his lap. But, I wish he would stop adding expensive, over-the-hill players that block the path of otherwise useful homegrown players with more upside, especially when those cheaper players have more to offer than the expensive vets.